I really don't remember any really negative criticism on Lane. He did well for a rookie 5th round draft pick from a Div. II school. Any one who thought otherwise must expect Richard Sherman or Kam Chanchellor impact players out of the 5th round or something. And that's insane.

im gonna be honest, ive rewatched all the games numerous times in the last couple months and Im not as sold on Lane as others here.

Lanes biggest pro is his speed. Thus why his special team impact as a gunner has worked well for us. His play on the field shows his speed well while he was starting at CB in place of browner. But he lost receivers a few times on the all-22. Most the times, the ball wasnt thrown his way, but you could see his coverages were shaky. A lot of this can easily be attributed to lack of experience, but it can also be a telling sign. On top of that, he lacks the physical presence that we have grown accustomed to in our scheme. I know others will hate this comparison, but he reminds me a lot of Josh Wilson (but taller, thank god). Great speed, but lacks the ability to win on the line.

I wont say hes bad, or that he will be bad, but I would like to see him gain more experience and see if that helps. However, if our secondary remains healthy, special teams may be his only venture on this team for awhile. Not a bad thing by any means.

hawksincebirth wrote:So Russell has leverage but marshawn doesn't ? I thought its next man up. Hey we got t jack and bj Daniels right ??

I remember when Browner was suspended he started a home game against someone (Was it the Cardinals? Rams? and he completely whiffed on a pretty simple tackle, I mean it happens to the best of them but it was kind of one of those "Browner makes that play 99% of the time." He is feisty, but I wouldn't say feisty necessarily means he's physical enough.

Cartire wrote:im gonna be honest, ive rewatched all the games numerous times in the last couple months and Im not as sold on Lane as others here.

Lanes biggest pro is his speed. Thus why his special team impact as a gunner has worked well for us. His play on the field shows his speed well while he was starting at CB in place of browner. But he lost receivers a few times on the all-22. Most the times, the ball wasnt thrown his way, but you could see his coverages were shaky. A lot of this can easily be attributed to lack of experience, but it can also be a telling sign. On top of that, he lacks the physical presence that we have grown accustomed to in our scheme. I know others will hate this comparison, but he reminds me a lot of Josh Wilson (but taller, thank god). Great speed, but lacks the ability to win on the line.

I wont say hes bad, or that he will be bad, but I would like to see him gain more experience and see if that helps. However, if our secondary remains healthy, special teams may be his only venture on this team for awhile. Not a bad thing by any means.

Good thing Seahawks without or without Lane are still easily have the best CB corps in the NFL

I've been on the Lane Train since camp last year when he was physically scrapping with guys like tate and stuff competing his ass off and being aggressive, you could tell he wanted it. I wasn't too worried when he had to step in and play last year.

I like his game as well. He is very fast and can cover well. In camp last summer I noticed he was hesitating a lot in coverage but by the end of the season he was very good. He was a quality pick and could start for many teams.

Without looking at the All 22 tape, my impression of Lane is that he's fast....he plays a lot faster than his timed speed, but he's not quick laterally.

This hurts him in the slot. Fast guys survive on the outside as you can use the sidelines as a defender. Slot WRs have a lot more field to work with, and can use their quickness to their advantage. You're also bumping into defenders and other offensive players out in their routes, so you need to be able to avoid them, or recover quickly.

I don't think Lane is suited to the Nickle/slot CB spot. I do think with experience he can be decent on the outside. His ceiling is probably somewhere around "good starter" to a bridge player. I'm more interested if Simon or Lane wins their camp battle (if Simon is healthy).

Hawks46 wrote:I don't think Lane is suited to the Nickle/slot CB spot. I do think with experience he can be decent on the outside. His ceiling is probably somewhere around "good starter" to a bridge player. I'm more interested if Simon or Lane wins their camp battle (if Simon is healthy).

I agree that Lane is not suited to play nickel this season. For one thing, he has never played it; and as Marcus Trufant could tell you, it's not that easy picking it up. For the inside nickel, we are usually looking for a tackler and an experienced player who can read the quarterback and the play -- usually aging veterans who have lost a fraction of a step, with Walter Thurmond being an exception.

Besides, we already have a *great* nickel in Winfield and a very good dime in Thurmond - or possibly Browner if Thurmond becomes the starting outside corner (see post below).

Walter Thurmond, if healthy, will probably be the Seahawks' starting *outside* cornerback by the end of the season, supplanting Brandon Browner. The only game Thurmond started last year, the second game against Arizona, was maybe the best the Seahawk defense has ever looked, but granted, it was at home against an Arizona Cardinal offense that had already given up.

Most cover corners start getting old at 29, younger than any other position, with a few exceptions like Antoine Winfield. If corners lose even a fraction of a step they are completely exposed by the young receivers with world class speed. Passes they were able to get their hands on before are now inches beyond their fingertips.

Brandon Browner will probably be losing his speed soon. Maybe he was just rusty, but he did not look good in the playoffs coming back after his suspension. Walter Thurmond on the other hand is very good, and relatively young. Even though Thurmond is entering his fourth (!) season with the Hawks, because of injury we have only seen glimpses of him, but from what we have seen, there is tremendous potential there.

Both Browner and Thurmond will be unrestricted free agents after the season.

Thurmond has expressed a strong desire to be a starting outside corner. Given his potential it is totally understandable that he wants to use his cover skills on the outside at some time during his career and doesn't want to remain a part-time nickel player.

Unless Thurmond is shown a clear path to a starting outside corner position - which probably means he needs to be the starter by the end of the season or sooner - he will almost surely be gone and signed by another team, maybe SF who could use an all-star corner like Thurmond could very well become.

Jeremy Lane, I think, will need to wait his turn on the bench this season, prepared to play in case of injury. Tharold Simon, also a fifth round pick but with a year less experience than Lane, is destined for the practice squad. Simon is off to a rough start, first getting arrested the night before the draft, then reporting to rookie camp out of shape and subsequently sitting out almost all (or all?) of OTAs with some kind of foot injury (but did not wear a boot.).

Last edited by bobk3333 on Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Walter needs to show that he can stay healthy and be consistent that's really all there is to it, and this will likely be his last year if he can't. I think Lane is going to be around for a few years unless he takes a huge step back and that doesn't seem likely he has all the tools needed to play corner and push for a starting job.

Jeremy Lane can run stride-for-stride with speedy WRs, but I haven't noticed how he plays in the slot or how he covers receivers with fluid hips that can break across the field crisply. He seemed like a nice backup to have in case one of Sherman or Browner are not playing, however. If I recall correctly, ARZ, SF, and BUF all tried to test him deep on their first offensive drives last year, and none of them came up with anything.

Colin Kaepernick is a great person, something that the NFL is sorely lacking.